It is frequently desirable to monitor local oscilloscope traces at a remote location in near real-time. This situation arises in telephone central offices served by remote technical service centers when there is a defect in one or more of the electrical circuits of a switching system and time is of the essence in restoring the system to full operation. Oftentimes in providing emergency service for telephone systems, a craftsperson is required to verbally describe over a telephone line the traces appearing on an oscilloscope screen to a repairman at the remote location. The manner in which the craftsperson describes the traces to the repairman can be time consuming and confusing and may result in unnecessary delay in restoring the system to full operation. Moreover, this problem becomes more difficult when the problem is sporadic in nature.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,235, which issued to F. A. Duffy, discloses a light emitting diode display apparatus wherein a plurality of diodes mounted in a row on a vibrating member are used to create a display for various types of signals. The display apparatus includes a member having a plurality of light emitting devices arranged in a row, an arrangement for moving the member at a predetermined rate, and an electronic circuit for applying energization action signals to selected ones of the plurality of light emitting devices in response to an input signal. The apparatus can also be configured so that signals, which are processed by a first circuit, are transmitted to a remote location over direct-coupled lines or telephone lines. This apparatus does not allow for the capture and retention of signals transmitted to the remote site nor is it able to operate at relatively high frequencies.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system which operates at relatively high frequencies, allows real-time acquisition of signals and captures and stores sporadic signals for analysis.